Parashat Vayetze- God's Land, and Ours

Parashat Vayetze

Vayikatz Ya’akov mishnato vayomar achein yeish A’donai bamakon hazeh v’a’nokhi lo yada’ti.

And Ya’akov woke from his sleep, and he said, “Surely A’donai is in this place and I, I did not know.” (Breishit 28:16)

Ya’akov flees from his home in fear of his life, from Beer-Sheva towards Haran. As the sun is setting, he takes a stone to use as a pillow, and lays down to sleep. As he sleeps, he is granted a prophetic dream, in which he sees angels ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. God appears to him, and reiterates the promise made to Avraham and Yitzhak, “The land on which you lie, I will give to you and your descendents. Your descendents will be as dust of the earth, spreading to the west, the east, the north, and the south. In you and your descendents, all the families of the earth will be blessed. (v. 13-14) Ya’akov awakes to realize that God was with him even as he feared for his life. It often takes unusual moments for us to realize that God is with us.

A second message from the dream is Ya’akov’s connection to the land. As b’nei Ya’akov this message is for us. To the west, the east, the north, and the south, this is our land. Just as Ya’akov’s mind and body understood his connection to the land, being in Israel produces a special feeling. Each region has its own qualities. The west today is modern and brilliant, lively and welcoming. The east is the ancient and devout blending with modernity. The north is green and lush, sweet with wine and mysticism, and the south is sandy and abrasive, but flowing with beauty and strength. These qualities are also the qualities of the Jew: modern and brilliant, lively, welcoming, ancient and devout blending with an understanding of modernity, flourishing and thriving, sweet and mystical, and even rough and abrasive, but flowing with beauty and strength. Rav Sean & I hope you will be able to join us to experience all this and more this summer.